Qureshi regrets hijacking, favours extension of ceasefire

SRINAGAR, JAN. 23. The surrendered hijacker of the Indian Airlines plane, Mr. Hashim Qureshi, has regretted hijacking it, and favoured extension of the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir.

``I am against violence of all kinds and I regret that as a violent incident,'' Mr. Qureshi told presspersons today outside the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, who sent him for 15 days judicial custody.

He also pleaded for extension of the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Prime Minister. ``Though people were killed during the ceasefire, it should be extended so that the common Kashmiri is relieved of tension.'' He parried questions on the presence of foreign militants and ``fidayeen attacks'' on security installations, saying, ``I am against violence of all types.''

He requested those carrying out attacks on civilian areas to stop as innocent people were getting killed. He disagreed with a remark that the political struggle bore no fruits and that the youth had taken to arms, saying, ``There has been no political struggle in Kashmir. People here surrendered all rights to the former Chief Minister, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.''

Mr. Qureshi alleged he was being denied justice because he was a Kashmiri, and said he wanted independence for the state. Citing the example of the release of two Sikh hijackers, who underwent jail terms in Pakistan and were released within 24 hours of their arrival in India, he said he was convicted in Pakistan for being an ``Indian agent'', while in India ``I am being tried for being a Pakistani agent.''

He said he felt proud to be the second Kashmiri after the late Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, who was hanged in Tihar jail in 1984, to be tried in both India and Pakistan. Earlier, Mr. Qureshi, who has been booked under Sections 392 (robbery), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 365 (kidnapping) and the Enemy Agents Ordinance Act, was brought to the court amidst tight security. Despite a hartal call by the Hurriyat Conference against alleged custodial killings, the court was jampacked as people wanted to have a glimpse of the hijacker, who was just 17 when he forced the IA plane to land at Lahore in 1971.

Kulkarni to head ceasefire team

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23. Lt.Gen. (retd.) R.V. Kulkarni has been appointed the full-time chairman of the ceasefire monitoring group set up to keep a watch on the peace process initiated between the Government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak- Muivah). The position was earlier being held as a stopgap measure by the Additional Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, Dr. P.D. Shenoy.

- PTI

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